


Tea and Honey

by loveneverfails



Category: Big Bang Theory
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-26
Updated: 2011-05-26
Packaged: 2017-10-19 19:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/204392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveneverfails/pseuds/loveneverfails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penny's sick. Sheldon decides to help - but only so he can have peace and quiet to finish his paper, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea and Honey

She realizes he loves her the first time he makes her tea. She's sick and stuck at home on the couch, dying. Okay, so it's just a cold but it feels like the end of the world to Penny. At one point, she even wonders if anyone would miss her if she didn't leave the apartment ever again. As it is, it's been two days without anyone calling to check on her. She thinks back to the Urban Legends she read as a teenager, about no one noticing someone had died until the smell got so bad they broke down the door, only to find the decayed body. She shudders at the thought - which triggers another round of chest aching coughs - and she buries herself down a little further beneath the massive pile of covers. She's in this for the long haul and if she's going to die, at least she'll die in comfort.

She awakens a few hours later to a warm cloth on her sweaty forehead and soft humming in her ear. She recognizes the tune, somehow, though her brain is still asleep and she can't seem to place her finger on it. But it brings her comfort, makes her feel safe, and she relaxes. Her head no longer rests on a pillow but on a lap and long, nimble fingers thread awkwardly through her hair to try and soothe her. She thinks for a minute that it might be a hallucination, especially when she sees Sheldon looking down at her. Her last conscience thought before sleep finds her again is: At least I'm not alone.

The next time her eyes open, it's so dark she thinks she might still be asleep. But her eyes are open, blinking, and Sheldon sits awkwardly beside her on the couch, sleeping peacefully. The first thing she notices is that he doesn't wear a surgical mask like he did the last time Leonard was sick. No gloves on his hands either. She wonders if she's delusional, if the cold medicine has just gotten the best of her and this is all just a very strange dream. But beside her is her favorite mug, filled with warm tea and honey. Beside it is a note which she reads with squinted eyes in the dark:

 _Penny,_

 _I could hear your coughs all the way across the hall. I let myself in with your spare key (I had one made in the event of an emergency. I assumed you would be too busy coughing to yell at me). Please drink the tea so I can get back to my work._

 _-Sheldon_

It's so _Sheldony_ that she actually smiles, though it's followed by another cough. She drinks the tea in silence and can't seem to find any anger in her weary body. She used to hate when Sheldon snuck into her apartment to clean when she first moved in. And though she can tell he'd tidied up somewhat since he'd been there (of course he had), she just smiles and finishes her drink. She doesn't know what possesses her to curl up beside him on the couch or lay her head on his warm chest, but she suddenly feels much better there in his arms. And she doesn't think it has anything to do with the tea.

She awakens the next morning alone, still on the couch, with no note or tea mug to be found. She thinks she might have dreamed it, though it seems unlikely as her cough is much better now. She dashes across the hall to the boy's apartment and flings the door open without knocking. Sheldon's already awake and at his desk, fingers flying over his keyboard. "Good morning, Penny," he says without looking up. She can only stand in the doorway and watch, the confusion on her face easily readable. Even to Sheldon. "Were you....in my apartment last night?" she asks slowly and she's not sure which emotion her voice represents: the confusion, the panic, the relief. "Did you sing me Soft Kitty and make me tea and -" She stops herself there because it sounds ridiculous, even to her own ears. This was Sheldon, the man who feared germs like most men feared commitment. He wouldn't have gone near Penny's apartment if he knew she was sick, let alone cared enough to help her get better or stayed the night in case she needed something. She begins to laugh at the idea and apologizes quietly before turning to leave. But before she can close the door, she hears it. The soft, faint sound of a sneeze. Sheldon's sneeze. Slowly she opens the door again to see Sheldon - tissue in hand, covering his mouth - and instantly Penny's heart skips a beat. "Oh, sweetie."

For the next two days, Penny takes care of Sheldon while he's sick. She doesn't particularly enjoy his neediness, but she's there for him without fail. She doesn't complain once when he asks for chicken noodle soup (she even sticks a thermometer in it this time). She sings him Soft Kitty when he's tired and rubs Vicks on his hairy chest. She even tries to help him finish his paper at one point, but he grows tired of spelling each Sciencey word for Penny when she tells him Google can't help her figure out what he's talking about. She spends the night holding him in her arms and running her fingers through his hair and she's surprised when Sheldon doesn't kick her out. He doesn't tell her people can't be in his room. He just sighs and tells her how comforted he feels, that he hasn't felt this way since Memaw stayed with him for a whole week when he had chicken pox as a little boy. She thinks maybe the cold medicine has gotten to him a little, too. But it doesn't stop her heart from skipping another beat.

In the morning, when Sheldon wakes up, he sees his favorite coffee mug on the nightstand table beside him. It's filled with honey tea and a note beside it that reads:

 _Dear Sheldon,_

 _I love you, too._

 _xoxo,  
-Penny_


End file.
